An individual citizen doesn’t promote a political party in the sense they might promote a church fair or a donation drive. Political parties are organizations whose chief reason for existence is self-promotion, and they have sophisticated professional operations to do so. Nonetheless, there are several ways an individual can help advance the agenda of a political party, especially by volunteering, donating, and organizing local party affiliates.

Steps

Method1

Promoting a Political Party through Volunteering

1

Decide where you want to volunteer. The most direct way to promote a political party by volunteering is to volunteer with the party itself rather than with a specific campaign.

The two major parties have organizations in all fifty states and in most counties. Simply look up the address and contact information for the county or state party headquarters and pick a time during business hours to go.

If you want to volunteer for a particular candidate, the same steps apply. You can go to the campaign website and give them your information, or look for a campaign office and show up in person.

You can always feel free to work alone by printing posters, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and the like. However, political parties make all of these items on their own, and they have professional advertising agencies to design them. Volunteering as part of a team is far more effective.

2

Approach the organization. Once you’ve found where you’d like to volunteer, go to the party or campaign office and let them know you’d like to volunteer. Let them know your availability, and they can work with you to find times when it is good for you to volunteer.[1]

3

Undergo training. Unless you have a very unusual skill (like graphic design) and are working for a small party office or a small campaign, you will probably be doing one of two things as a volunteer—knocking on doors or making phone calls.[2]

In case you’re worried, neither of these activities is usually for the purpose of soliciting a donation. Rather, they are for the purpose of educating voters about your candidate or the party’s candidates during that election cycle.

Even though phone calling and door knocking aren’t particularly complicated tasks, a bit of training is still required. There are usually scripts, talking points, and techniques a campaign or party organization will want you to know.

4

Get to work. Once you’re trained and scheduled, it’s time to show up and get to work. One of the most difficult things about relying on volunteer labor is unreliability. Volunteers “flake” a lot—that is, they don’t show up when they say they will. Don’t be that volunteer. [3]

Make sure you only commit to work shifts you can actually work.As a volunteer, you're under no obligation to work any shifts at all--but as someone who wants to advance a political agenda, you should understand that organizers and other campaign staff make plans based on what volunteers commit to doing. When you don't show up, you make their jobs that much harder.

Method2

Promoting a Political Party by Donating

1

Pick a recipient for your donation. A political party includes both the party apparatus and the candidates running for office under the party’s name. If you want to donate in order to promote the party, consider where the donation would go the farthest. [4]

Typically, candidates for higher offices have a much easier time fundraising than candidates for smaller offices. One of the functions of the party organizations is to distribute money to the candidates for smaller offices who have a harder time fundraising. If races for national or higher profile offices are uncompetitive, consider making the donation to the party.

If you have supplies such as food, office supplies, or furniture, you can also donate those. Typically, a campaign will be in greater need of these items than a party.

2

Go to their website. The easiest way to make a donation is to go to the website of the recipient, enter your credit or debit card information along with your name, address, occupation and employer, and donate your desired amount.[5][6]

Word to the wise: if an organization doesn’t have a way for you to donate on their website, it’s poorly managed. Donate to someone else.

3

Mail a check. If you prefer to take things slowly, write out a check and mail it to the party or candidate. Make sure the check is filled out correctly and the envelope is addressed properly.[7][8]

Also include your name, address, occupation and employer.

4

Donate cash directly. Finally, you can donate cash in person. Simply find a party or campaign office and tell them you’d like to make a donation. They’ll give you an envelope with spaces on the back to list your name, address, and employer. Fill out the back of the envelope, put the money in, and hand it over.[9]

Method3

Promoting a Political Party by Organizing

1

Contact your local party. If a party organization like the Young Democrats or the College Republicans (or even a county party) is missing from your area and you want to change that, you should contact the closest local party organization in order to find possible members. The leaders of your local party can give you the best leads on possible members in a new party affiliated organization.[10]

The local party is also likely to be populated by current and former organizers. They can give you great tips on how to successfully recruit members.

2

Start a Facebook group. Facebook groups are probably the easiest and most cost-effective way of advertising an event and gauging interest in a new organization. With the leads from your local party, you should be tapped into some related Facebook groups that can spread the word to sympathetic members of the local community.[11]

If you’re looking to start a party-affiliated organization, you probably have friends who would fit the organization’s profile. Start by inviting them into the Facebook group, then move on to state and local party leaders. This way, word of the new organization should spread quickly.

3

Reach out to related groups. Organizations like “Drinking Liberally” (or its conservative equivalent), can be great places to find possible members for a party organization. While a group like Drinking Liberally isn’t actually affiliated with the Democratic Party, the members are predominantly socially minded Democrats. Therefore, they are excellent candidates to join a social group affiliated with the Democratic party.[12]

4

Set a date for an initial meeting. Your next step is to get as many interested people as possible in a room together all at once. Make sure to give plenty of lead time between the announcement of the meeting and the date of the meeting.[13]

Once you’ve set a date for an initial meeting, advertise it through the Facebook group you’ve created and the other party organizations you reached out to find interested candidates for membership.

You should also go one step beyond reaching out to groups you’ve already made contact with. Print out some flyers advertising the initial meeting and post them in public places like coffee shops, community centers, and college campuses. This way you cast a wider net, and bring people into the party who haven’t previously been affiliated. [14]

5

Create a charter and by-laws. It might sound like quite a task to come up with a charter and by-laws by yourself, and it probably is quite a task. Luckily, it isn’t a task you’ll need to do. Young/College/High School/ Democrats and Republicans in all 50 states have templates you can use for charters and by-laws. All you’ll need to do is fill in the blanks and change relevant details.[15]

Just in case you can’t find a template, your charter should contain the group’s mission statement, dues, meeting times, and the group’s name. The bylaws are just the operating rules of the group—how to conduct meetings, how to elect and remove officers, and what the length of the terms of office are. Almost all organizations use Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct meetings. You can find a copy at http://www.robertsrules.com/.

Most organizations will simply borrow the other bylaws from larger parent groups of the organization. In this case, a parent group might be a state or county party. You should be able to find the state and county party bylaws by contacting the state and local parties.

Once you’ve created the charter and the by-laws, the membership needs to approve it through a majority vote according to the agreed upon bylaws.

6

Elect officers. You’ll need to elect a chapter President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, along with any other offices you think are important. Elect the officers from the membership by a majority vote according to the agreed upon bylaws.[16]

7

Submit the charter and member list to the state organization. All 50 states have chapters of local parties and affiliated organizations. Once you’ve lined up members, voted on a charter, and elected officers, submit those documents to the state party or party affiliate.[17]

8

Advance the message. You want your group to be more than a club where people complain about current events--you actually want to take steps to promote the party. So make sure you take steps to advance the message.

Coordinate with other party organizations to launch canvasses, phone banks, and donation drives.

When you sponsor debates, town halls, or invite speakers to your meetings, you raise the profile of your organization. The higher your profile, the more members you'll be able to attract, which will allow you to sponsor progressively larger events.

You're helping people by reading wikiHow

wikiHow's mission is to help people learn, and we really hope this article helped you. Now you are helping others, just by visiting wikiHow.

Barefoot College is a social enterprise with a mission to connect poor rural communities to technology and education. By doing so, they empower individuals to contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.

Click below to let us know you read this article, and wikiHow will donate to Barefoot College on your behalf. Thanks for helping us achieve our mission of helping people learn how to do anything.